In a time when many people expect to have two or three careers in their lives, Gladys Crandall of Hudson stood out.

Crandall, 93, who died Wednesday, worked 74 years for the Brown-Van Hemert Funeral Home in Hudson.

“She just plain liked the people,” said David Van Hemert, manager of the funeral home, who worked with Crandall from 1954 when he came to the funeral home until Crandall had a heart attack this spring and could no longer work.

Crandall, who started working at the funeral home in 1938 when it still was the Charles E. Brown and Son Funeral Home, was a receptionist but also helped prepare deceased women’s hair, cleaned and did whatever else needed to be done, Van Hemert said. In the early days, when some funeral homes operated ambulance services, Crandall even went on ambulance runs, he said.

“She didn’t shy away from anything that had to be done around here,” he said.

More than longevity on the job made Crandall exceptional, Van Hemert said. Her knowledge of the community and its people was a major asset.

“She was a local girl; she knew everybody all those years,” Van Hemert said. “So that was the biggest thing.”

Crandall also had “a great outlook, always happy,” and he called her an inspiration to her fellow workers and the families they serve.

“This was her life, the funeral home and helping people,” Van Hemert said.

Crandall was born June 2, 1919, in Wheatland Township in Hillsdale County. She attended Taylor Country School and graduated from Hudson High School in 1938.

She married Lawrence Crandall on June 1, 1941. Lawrence Crandall died in 1964. The couple had a daughter, Corlis, and a son, Paul, both of whom also are deceased.

Crandall is survived by three grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, a nephew and numerous friends.

Crandall’s granddaughter Abbie Fox, who lives in Hudson, said her grandmother was remarkable for her strength and for her willingness to help and comfort others.

“She’s the one who held our family together,” Fox said. “She was a giver, not a receiver.”

How did her grandmother manage such a long career at the funeral home?

“I just think the fact that she was happy, she liked the people she worked with, she liked the interaction with people,” Fox said.